Author: Barkha Roy
Andy Murray was knocked out of the Madrid Open on Thursday, April 27, by Andrea Vavassori. The three-time Grand Slam champion was beaten 2-6, 6-7 (7-9).
Murray, the two-time Madrid Open champion, looked unwell in the first set. Despite forcing a tie-break in the second set, he was unable to force a deciding set in the contest. Vavassaori missed four match points before converting his fifth to win his first ATP Masters 1000 match.
Murray was beaten in an hour and 33 minutes by the 27-year-old. Vavassaori’s task is expected to become more difficult as he prepares to face Daniil Medvedev. Meanwhile, Australian Dominic Thiem advanced to the second round after beating American Kyle Edmund 6-4, 6-1. Thiem, 29, dominated his opponent, breaking his serve four times in seven chances.
Edmund also had four chances to break Thiem’s serve, but failed to convert any of them. Thiem was excellent on his first serves, winning 83% of the points and finishing the match in one hour and 22 minutes.
In the women’s event, after first-round byes, No. 6 seed Coco Gauff of the United States, No. 9 seed Maria Sakkari of Greece and No. 5 seed Caroline Garcia of France won their second-round matches in straight sets on Thursday.
Gauff came back from a break down in the first set to beat Spain’s Irene Burillo Escorihuela 6-4, 6-1 at the Estadio Manolo Santana. Gauff defeated the world number 316 in 1 hour and 17 minutes to advance to the third round in Madrid. Elsewhere, Sakkari also won her first match of the tournament, beating Dutch player Arantxa Rus 6-4, 6-4 in 1 hour 35 minutes.
Garcia then beat Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan 6-3, 6-4. Putintseva had won all three of their previous meetings, but Garcia stood out with a one hour and 35 minute victory. Meanwhile, Mirra Andreeva of Russia advanced to the third round of the Madrid Open at the Caja Magica on Thursday, beating Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia, seed No. 13, 7-6 (6), 6-3.
Now the only surviving Brazilian entrant in the competition, Thiago Monteiro will face 10th seed Karen Khachanov in his second round match on Friday.